“I don’t like carrots; I want animal biscuits!” My three year old nephew screamed as his grandmother and aunty unsuccessfully tried to feed him dinner. “You need to eat something healthy. Here, just try a tiny bit of this yummy mashed potato”. “No – I want pasta!”

For 20 minutes we struggled. Tears were falling, tempers were rising, time-out hadn’t worked. Then against every sense of healthy eating we gave in. “Hey, we’re not the parents. Our sanity is more important than meat and veges.” So we served plain pasta (no sauce allowed) artistically surrounded by coloured animal biscuits, poured ourselves some wine, and finally relaxed.

Every parent has moments like this – where giving in is easier than taking a stand. Sometimes we have to do it for our emotional health and sometimes for social reasons – to avoid World War III at the café!

But making the effort to teach our kids healthy eating habits is one of the best gifts we can give them for their long-term health.

Why do we feel guilty if they eat pasta & animal biscuits for dinner?

Instinctively we know that the food we feed our children has a huge effect on their growth, behaviour and health. Otherwise why would we bother goading them to eat vegetables, resorting desperately to sayings such as “Eat your carrots, they make you see in the dark” (based on the fact that they contain beta-carotene, a type of vitamin A of which a deficiency causes night blindness) and “What about the starving children in Africa?” (based on no logic at all – finishing your dinner unfortunately doesn’t help them). Why do we feel so guilty if they eat pasta and animal biscuits for dinner?

Here’s some of the science that supports our instinct:

Babies who are breast-fed have less risk of developing allergies
Toddlers who are deficient in iron can have impaired brain and intellectual development, which is permanent and irreversible
Children who have a lower saturated fat intake in childhood are less likely to develop insulin resistance – a key predictor for diabetes and heart disease
Babies who are underweight in their first two years of life and who then gain weight rapidly have a greater risk of insulin resistance and heart disease in adulthood
Around two out of every three obese children will become obese adults, especially children who are still obese after the age of 10.

How our food habits are formed

The food we grow up with is often the food we prefer as adults. Think about the foods you like to eat; many of these will be foods you ate as a child. My mother went through a health phase when we were kids. She decided we didn’t need salt but we did need wheat germ (a great source of vitamins B and E). So we all had wheat germ sprinkled on our salt-free porridge every morning. What started as taste bud torture soon became normal, and we all still eat porridge that way!

Food routines can also carry over into adulthood. If you grew up in a family where you all sat around the television enjoying fish and chips while watching the rugby, chances are that as an adult you will not sit down to watch the rugby with a bowl of carrot sticks.

Take these first two steps to encourage healthy eating habits in your children.

1. Eat together as a family

Eating together as a family is important. Even if your busy schedule doesn’t allow for eating together as a family every night, try to have at least one night a week where you all sit down together.

This is where children learn the social aspects of food: how to set the table, how to use cutlery, table manners, and how to chat over a meal rather than grunting a few syllables while mesmerised by the television. They see how you eat and what you eat.

It’s also gives you a chance to give children more control over what they eat: place the food on the table buffet-style and let them help themselves. They may be tempted to try the hated courgette when they see everyone else enjoying it.

2. Get kids involved

Life is a great adventure for young children and food can be part of it.

Let them pick herbs or vegetables out of the garden, if you have one.
Point out interesting fruit and vegetables in the supermarket and let them choose one to take home.
Let them help you pat out the scones or measure out ingredients for baking. Be prepared for some mess and the odd spill. Fruit smoothie on your clothes and egg shells in the cake mix is worth it if the children grow up viewing healthy food as fun.

Original article written by me (Cindy). Reprinted with permission Healthy Food Guide magazine.